Has Google lost your personalised user data?

Homepage user additions have vanished

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Many Google users are seething this morning as Google appears to have lost their personalised homepage data. The unique content on personalised Google homepages has become the hub of internet content for many people. But newsfeeds, tabs, sticky notes and other personalisation features seem to have vanished overnight.

"[We are currently] in frantic-chase-down-this-bug mode here at the Googleplex," said a Google spokesperson online.

"The big question I know you'll all want answered is whether you'll get your homepage back once we sort things out... and the really honest answer is that I hope so, but I just don't know yet."

But many Googlers see this response as unsatisfactory.

Angry web users

"This is an answer that I would like not to hear," one user replied. "People stored data on the personalised homepage trusting Google. It would be very bad for your image if you lost all the data. Should we still trust Google Mail?"

No doubt the Google team is working frantically to resolve this problem. If your account is one of those affected by the bug, you may have to start all over again.

Yesterday, Google announced the release of Google Desktop 5 in 29 different languages.

"We've redesigned the look and feel of the sidebar and many of our most popular gadgets. There are also previews for search results and warnings for suspicious websites, whether you're clicking on links from documents, IMs, websites, and more," said the Google blog .

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